Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Millichap, the Met’s lead on violence against women and girls, said: “We welcome this first report by the NPCC that aims to better identify the scale of violence against women and girls.
“We want to make London a safe city for women and girls. Every day we are out tackling violence and abuse and arresting predatory men. We are using the same specialist tactics and technology to identify and bring more offenders to justice as we do for other serious crime. We are working closely with partners and any whose expertise can help to improve the response and support women and girls get.
“We know we have much more to do and we are working hard to improve so that women and girls feel safe, and have confidence in our service to them.
“This must start with us.
“We recognise identifying and bringing to justice those in the Met who corrupt our integrity by committing abuses against women and girls is vital in rebuilding the trust of our communities and increasing reporting.
“We have taken important steps towards this. We have the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offences (DASO) Unit staffed by experienced officers with a background in investigating domestic abuse and sexual violence, who now are using those skills to investigate allegations made against serving officers and staff, and a focus on victim-survivor care
“We have a new Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command, with detectives who are bringing the same investigative approach to identifying wrongdoing in our ranks as we do to identifying organised criminality. We launched the first ever public appeal line – the Crimestoppers Police Integrity Hotline to make it easier for the public to report officers of concern, an initiative now planned for rollout nationally.
“We recognise there is far more work to be done to effectively tackle all types of violence against women and girls and to gain trust.
“In spring we will publish a new and refreshed Met Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan, which will build on feedback and progress made since our initial plan. We are committed to progressing this work in partnership and by listening.
“If you are a victim-survivor of this type of abuse, including by an alleged police perpetrator, you will be listened to and supported by the Met and specialist support services, with respect and dignity. Allegations will be investigated fully, whoever the suspect.
Data:
The police perpetrated data requested by the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) was for new allegations and cases during the period 1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022 and is in their published report.
Of the national data of 1,177 cases involving 1,483 allegations of police-perpetrated violence against women and girls the Met had 241 cases involving 287 allegations for the time period reported on.
Compared with the period reported by the NPCC above where there were 287 allegations against Met officers and staff, in the most recent six months (from 1 September 2022 – 28 February 2023) period we have received 268 new allegations.
We are proactively encouraging both the public and Met colleagues to report any concerns about the behaviour of officers and staff through the Crimestoppers run hotline or directly to us.
Public vs Internal reports:
The NPCC report shows nationally there were 653 VAWG related internally reported conduct cases against 672 individuals. Additionally, there were 524 public complaint cases against 867 individuals. This equates to 0.7 per cent of the national police workforce employed in March 2022.
The Met data for the same period shows there were 213 VAWG related internally reported conduct cases against 217 individuals. Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 31 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the Met workforce (officers and staff) employed in March 2022.
The most recent six months Met data (from 1 September 2022 – 28 February 2023) shows there were 183 VAWG related internally reported conduct cases against 191 individuals. Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 30 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the Met workforce (officers and staff) employed in February 2023.
Historic Review:
Separate to the NPCC data collection exercise, the Met has already made public other work to review allegations against officers and staff reported to our Professional Standards Directorate for domestic or sexual incidents over the last decade. This work, known as Project Onyx, has flagged reports involving close to 1,100 officers and staff. All of these cases and incidents were closed or finalised as they had been assessed or investigated previously. The outcomes for these cases ranged from a final written warning to no further action.
Whilst we would expect the majority of cases to have been dealt with appropriately, we are keen to ensure that no officers who could have been disciplined, sacked or prosecuted are missed. If we uncover any cases requiring further action then suspension or restrictions will be immediately considered. Onyx will also review all measures in place to manage any risk posed by these officers and staff to ensure the measures are robust enough, as well as carrying out vetting checks.
